The Melody Web what each genre heard, and what it passed on

heard passed on Click or tap a node to recenter. Use a connecting line, or Influence, for the story.

Heard

Punto canario tradition · 1500–

Cuban punto keeps Canarian décima-and-laúd contest song: octosyllabic stanza, plucked accompaniment, and a rural fiesta job carried by island migrants.

Influence

Punto cubano

tradition · 1600–

Also called punto guajiro, punto

Cuban peasant song in décima: laúd or guitar, sung octosyllables, and a rural contest or fiesta job (punto libre, punto fijo). It hears Punto canario for the Canarian décima-and-plucked-string contest job settlers carried. It already gives Trova the country verse-and-guitar job Santiago trovadores urbanize. Spanish décima leftover as a verse form, not a node. Spanish 3/4 theatrical bolero leftover as a different dance. Guajira leftover as a later son/bolero color, not a second parent of trova. “Spanish folk” leftover as a catch-all.

Listen

  1. Punto cubano (tradicional) Cuban guajiro tradition (traditional) YouTube
  2. Punto libre Celina González / rural tradition (living / traditional) YouTube
  3. Décima guajira Cuban punto singers (traditional)
  4. Punto en el llano Rural Cuban song (traditional)
  5. Guajira de punto Cuban peasant tradition (traditional)

Passed on

Trova tradition · 1860–

Santiago trova urbanizes punto’s guitar-and-décima job: peasant stanza and plucked accompaniment become café serenade.

Influence

Punto canario → Punto cubano

form and structuremelodyperformance practicestrength: highscholarly consensus1600–1850migrationoral

Mechanism

Cuban punto keeps Canarian décima-and-laúd contest song: octosyllabic stanza, plucked accompaniment, and a rural fiesta job carried by island migrants. Strength high. Spanish décima leftover as a verse form, not this hop. Andalusian folk song leftover as a catch-all; the named donor is Canarian punto.

Evidence

Canary Islands punto and folía practice; Cuban guajiro décima with laúd; Sublette and Grove on the Canarian settlement path.

Debate

Whether Cuban punto is simply Spanish peasant song. The décima-and-plucked-string contest job is specifically Canarian; other Iberian song types stay leftover.

Mediators

community: Canary Island settlers in rural Cuba

Punto cubano → Trova

form and structuremelodyperformance practicestrength: mediumscholarly consensus1860–1900oralmigration

Mechanism

Santiago trova urbanizes punto’s guitar-and-décima job: peasant stanza and plucked accompaniment become café serenade. Strength medium. Spanish theatrical song leftover as a parallel café neighbor; this hop is the Cuban rural verse school.

Evidence

Oriente countryside punto; nineteenth-century Santiago trovadores; Sublette and Grove on guajiro song behind trova.

Debate

Whether trova is simply urban punto. Punto keeps contest décima and laúd; trova is the named itinerant song school that later writes bolero.

Mediators

community: Oriente peasant singers and Santiago trovadores